Conventionally, there is a technology in which using a panoramic image representing the real world, a line-of-sight direction is changed in accordance with an operation of a user and an image of the real space is displayed. In this case, an object (arrow) indicating the direction of a road in the real world is displayed so as to be superimposed on the panoramic image.
In the conventional art, in some cases, the object displayed so as to be superimposed on the panoramic image becomes invisible or becomes hard to see, thereby deteriorating the visibility of the object.
Therefore, the present application discloses a display control system, a display control apparatus, a storage medium having stored therein a display control program, and a display control method which allow for improvement of the visibility of an object displayed so as to be superimposed on an image representing a three-dimensional space, such as a panoramic image.
(1) An example of a display control system described in the present specification displays a panoramic image on a display device. The display control system includes a display control unit and an object display unit. The display control unit is configured to display, on the display device, a panoramic image in a field-of-view range determined on the basis of a line-of-sight direction of a virtual camera. The object display unit is configured to display an object on the panoramic image on the basis of the line-of-sight direction of the virtual camera. The object display unit displays the object in any of a plurality of control modes including a first control mode in which the object is arranged so as to be kept near a ground in the panoramic image regardless of change of the line-of-sight direction of the virtual camera and a second control mode in which the object is arranged away from the ground in the panoramic image, and switches between the first control mode and the second control mode in accordance with an extent to which the line-of-sight direction of the virtual camera is directed to the ground in the panoramic image.
According to the configuration of the above (1), switching between the first control mode in which the object is displayed so as to be arranged near the ground in the panoramic image and the second control mode in which the object is displayed so as to be arranged away from the ground is performed in accordance with the extent to which the line-of-sight direction is directed to the ground. According to this, even when it is impossible to display the object in the first control mode, it is possible to display the object by switching to the second control mode according to need. Thus, it is possible to improve the visibility of the object displayed together with the panoramic image.
(2) Another example of the display control system described in the present specification displays, on a display device, an image of a three-dimensional space representing a real world or a virtual world. The display control system includes an object arrangement unit and a display control unit. The object arrangement unit is configured to arrange an object in the three-dimensional space on the basis of a line-of-sight direction determined in the three-dimensional space. The display control unit is configured to display an image in a field-of-view range, determined on the basis of the line-of-sight direction, of the three-dimensional space on the display device. The object arrangement unit arranges the object in any of a plurality of control modes including a first control mode in which the object is arranged on a reference plane set in the three-dimensional space or in an area near the reference plane and a second control mode in which the object is arranged away from the area, and switches between the first control mode and the second control mode in accordance with the line-of-sight direction.
According to the configuration of the above (2), switching between the first control mode in which the object is arranged on the reference plane or in the area near the reference plane and the second control mode in which the object is arranged away from the area is performed in accordance with the line-of-sight direction. According to this, even when it is impossible to display the object in the first control mode, it is possible to display the object by switching to the second control mode according to need. Thus, it is possible to improve the visibility of the object.
(3) In the first control mode, the object arrangement unit may arrange the object such that the object is kept at a reference distance from the reference plane; and in the second control mode, the object arrangement unit may arrange the object such that the object is away from the reference plane by a distance longer than the reference distance.
The “reference distance” does not necessarily need to be a fixed value and may be variable in a range where the object is moved along the reference plane or in a range where the object is arranged near the reference plane. In other words, the phrase “arranges the object such that the object is kept at a reference distance from the reference plane” means to include a mode in which the object is arranged such that the distance from the reference plane to the object is constant, a mode in which the object is arranged such that the object moves along the reference plane with the distance from the reference plane to the object being changed, and a mode in which the object is arranged near the reference plane. In addition, the “reference distance” may be 0. In other words, the phrase “arranges the object such that the object is kept at a reference distance from the reference plane” means to include a mode in which the object is arranged on the reference plane.
According to the configuration of the above (3), in the first control mode, the object is arranged on the reference plane or so as to be kept at the reference distance from the reference plane; and in the second control mode, the object is arranged so as to be away from the reference plane by the distance longer than the reference distance. Therefore, similarly to the configuration of the above (1), even when it is impossible to display the object in the first control mode, it is possible to display the object in the second control mode. Thus, it is possible to improve the visibility of the object.
(4) In the first control mode, the object arrangement unit may arrange the object such that the object is kept at a reference distance from the reference plane, regardless of change of the line-of-sight direction.
According to the configuration of the above (4), in the first control mode, the object is arranged along the reference plane even when the line-of-sight direction is changed. Thus, it is possible to present correspondence between the object and the reference plane in an easy-to-understand manner. For example, when the object indicates a direction and/or a position on the reference plane, it is possible to present the direction and/or the position in an easy-to-understand manner to the user.
(5) The object arrangement unit may switch a control mode from the first control mode to the second control mode such that the object is not outside the field-of-view range as a result of change of the line-of-sight direction in the first control mode.
It is noted that the configuration of the above (5) specifies that the object is displayed at a time of shift from the first control mode to the second control mode, but does not specify that the object is always displayed. For example, after shifting to the second control mode (e.g., by switching to another control mode different from the first control mode and the second control mode), the object may not be displayed. In addition, for example, due to a reason other than change of the line-of-sight direction (e.g., by display/non-display of the object being switched in accordance with an instruction from the user or automatically without an instruction from the user), the object may not be displayed.
According to the configuration of the above (5), when the object is about to be outside the field-of-view range in the first control mode, the control mode is switched to the second control mode. As a result, the object is kept at a position within the field-of-view range. Thus, even when it is impossible to display the object only in the first control mode, it is possible to display the object in the second control mode. In other words, according to the configuration of the above (5), it is possible to display the object at more chances, and thus it is possible to improve the visibility of the object. It is noted that the phrase “the object is outside the field-of-view range” means that the object is completely outside the field-of-view range, and a case where only a part of the object is included in the field-of-view range does not correspond to the phrase “the object is outside the field-of-view range”.
(6) The object may indicate a direction in the real world or the virtual world represented by the three-dimensional space.
According to the configuration of the above (6), it is possible to present the direction in the real world or the virtual world represented by the three-dimensional space, in an easy-to-understand manner to the user by using the object.
(7) The display control system may further include an input reception unit configured to receive an input of designating the object displayed on the display device. In this case, in accordance with reception of the input of designating the object, the display control unit may change the image of the three-dimensional space such that a position of a viewpoint in the real world or the virtual world is moved in a direction associated with the designated object, and may display the changed image on the display device.
According to the configuration of the above (7), in accordance with the input of designating the object, the image of the three-dimensional space is changed such that the position of the viewpoint is moved. Therefore, the user is allowed to move the viewpoint in the displayed real world by designating the object, and thus is allowed to move the viewpoint with a simple operation. In addition, since the object is displayed with favorable visibility by the configuration of the above (2), an operation of designating the object becomes easy.
(8) In the second control mode, the object arrangement unit may arrange the object at a position included in the field-of-view range determined on the basis of the line-of-sight direction.
According to the configuration of the above (8), it is possible to more reliably display (at least a part of) the object in the second control mode.
(9) In the second control mode, the object arrangement unit may arrange the object such that a positional relation between the line-of-sight direction and the object is kept as a positional relation in the first control mode immediately before shifting to the second control mode.
According to the configuration of the above (9), in switching the control mode from the first control mode to the second control mode, the positional relation between the line-of-sight direction (a straight line extending from the viewpoint along the line-of-sight direction) and the object is kept between before and after the switching. Therefore, in switching the control mode from the first control mode to the second control mode, the displayed position of the object is kept, and thus it is possible to reduce a concern that the user loses sight of the object at the time of the switching. Thus, it is possible to improve the visibility of the object.
(10) In the first control mode, the object arrangement unit may arrange the object such that an attitude of the object corresponds to the reference plane; and in the second control mode, the object arrangement unit may arrange the object such that the attitude of the object corresponds to the line-of-sight direction.
According to the configuration of the above (10), by changing the method for controlling the attitude of the object between the first control mode and the second control mode, it is possible to display the object in each control mode such that the object is easily visible.
(11) In the first control mode, the object arrangement unit may move the object along the reference plane in accordance with the line-of-sight direction.
According to the configuration of the above (11), since the object is moved along the reference plane in accordance with the line-of-sight direction, correspondence between the object and the reference plane is presented in an easy-to-understand manner. For example, when the object indicates a direction and/or a position on the reference plane, it is possible to present the direction and/or the position in an easy-to-understand manner to the user.
(12) In the first control mode, the object arrangement unit may arrange the object at a position included in the field-of-view range determined on the basis of the line-of-sight direction.
According to the configuration of the above (12), it is possible to more reliably display (at least a part of) the object in the first control mode.
(13) The object arrangement unit may set a control mode at the first control mode when the line-of-sight direction is directed to an inside of a predetermined range on the reference plane, and may switch the control mode to the second control mode in accordance with deviation of the line-of-sight direction from the inside of the predetermined range.
It is noted that in the configuration of the above (13), the control mode is switched on the basis of whether the line-of-sight direction is directed to the inside of the predetermined range, but a method for determining whether the line-of-sight direction is directed to the inside of the predetermined range is arbitrary. This determination may be performed by using a straight line extending from the viewpoint along the line-of-sight direction, or may be performed by using other information determined on the basis of the line-of-sight direction (e.g., the displayed position of the object on the screen).
According to the configuration of the above (13), the control mode is set at the first control mode in a state where the line-of-sight direction is directed to the inside of the predetermined range on the reference plane, and the object is arranged on the reference plane or so as to be kept at the reference distance from the reference plane. In addition, in accordance with change of the line-of-sight direction to a state where the line-of-sight direction is deviated from the inside of the predetermined range, the control mode is switched to the second control mode, and the object is arranged away from the reference plane. According to this, when the line-of-sight direction is directed to the predetermined range on the reference plane, it is possible to arrange the object in such a manner that correspondence between the object and the reference plane is easily understood, and even when the line-of-sight direction deviates from the reference plane, it is possible to display the object.
(14) The object arrangement unit may switch between the first control mode and the second control mode in accordance with an extent to which the line-of-sight direction is directed to the reference plane.
According to the configuration of the above (14), it is possible to switch the control mode in accordance with the extent to which the line-of-sight direction is directed to the reference plane. According to this, for example, the control mode is set at the first control mode in a state where the line-of-sight direction is directed to the reference plane, and the object is arranged on the reference plane or near the reference plane. In addition, in accordance with change of the line-of-sight direction to a state where the line-of-sight direction is not directed to the reference plane, the control mode is switched to the second control mode, and the object is arranged away from the reference plane. According to this, when the line-of-sight direction is directed to the reference plane, it is possible to arrange the object in such a manner that correspondence between the object and the reference plane is easily understood, and even when the line-of-sight direction deviates from the reference plane, it is possible to display the object.
(15) The display control unit may further display, on the reference plane, an image representing a shadow of the object.
According to the configuration of the above (15), by the image representing the shadow, it is possible to cause the user to intuitively recognize the position of the object on the reference plane, and thus it is possible to present the position of the object in an easy-to-understand manner. In addition, by the image representing the shadow, it is possible to show the object as if the object existed in the real world or the virtual world represented by the three-dimensional space, and it is possible to present the object to the user without giving an uncomfortable feeling to the user.
(16) The reference plane may be set so as to correspond to a ground in the real world or the virtual world represented by the three-dimensional space.
According to the configuration of the above (16), in the first control mode, it is possible to display the object at a position corresponding to the ground in the real world or the virtual world.
(17) The display control system may include a portable input device. In addition, the display control system may further include a line-of-sight control unit configured to control the line-of-sight direction in accordance with an attitude of the input device.
According to the configuration of the above (17), the user is allowed to change the line-of-sight direction with an intuitive operation of changing the attitude of the input device.
It is noted that the present specification discloses an example of a display control apparatus that has the same function as that of the display control system in the above (1) to (17) (the input device in the above (16) may not be included). In addition, the present specification discloses an example of a computer-readable storage medium having stored therein a display control program that causes a computer of an information processing apparatus to operate as the same means as each unit in the above display control system. Furthermore, the present specification discloses an example of a display control method performed by the display control system in the above (1) to (17).
According to the above display control system, display control apparatus, display control program, and display control method, by switching a control method regarding the arrangement of the object in accordance with the line-of-sight direction, it is possible to increase the chances of displaying the object, and thus it is possible to improve the visibility of the object.
These and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the technology herein will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.